Financial Management, Marketing, and Human Resources
Financial Management
Investing and Funding
Financial management involves managing the financial resources a company needs for its business development and making investment decisions. Investing is the acquisition of financial capital with the expectation of gain or profit.
Internal funding sources (cash flow): Resources generated by the company’s activities.
External funding sources: Resources obtained from investors or financial intermediaries, not owned by the company. These are current liabilities.
- Capital: Raising capital by issuing new shares.
- Loan (Bonds): A set of bonds issued at once.
- Loan (Contract): A contract with a financial institution where the company borrows money and promises to repay the capital plus interest.
- Credit Line: A bank provides a credit account to the borrower, allowing them to draw funds within a specified limit and timeframe.
- Leasing: The owner (lessor) allows the user (lessee) to use an asset for a period in exchange for payments. The lessee may have the option to purchase the asset at the end of the lease term.
- Renting: A contract where one party (lessor) grants another party (lessee) the use of an asset for a specified period in exchange for rent payments.
- Discount of effects: A financial transaction where financial institutions advance the value of trade bills to their customers.
Marketing
Market Analysis and Strategy
Commercial activity involves studying market needs and selecting suitable ways to introduce and sell a product or service. A marketing plan analyzes the situation, designs strategies to achieve objectives, implements these strategies, and controls the outcome.
Market: A group of individuals or organizations who need a specific product, are willing to buy it, and have the capacity to do so.
Market research: Methods used to analyze the market and evaluate strategies. This helps understand the target market, their needs, buying behavior, and preferred purchasing channels.
Marketing Mix
The marketing mix combines four basic instruments: product, price, promotion, and distribution.
- Product: Tangible (essential and formal) and intangible aspects of a good, service, or idea that satisfy a need.
- Price: The money paid to obtain a product, representing the value of the product, time, effort, and inconvenience involved in acquiring it.
- Promotion: Activities that communicate the product’s benefits and persuade the target market to buy.
- Distribution: Making the product available to the market to facilitate and encourage purchase.
Human Resources
Managing People
Human resources management covers all aspects of people working in the company, aiming to optimize the use of available human resources.
- Departamentación: Grouping similar jobs into organizational units to coordinate and supervise activities and achieve objectives. This relates to company size and operational complexity.
- Organization: A graphical representation of the company’s organizational structure, showing relationships between different functions.
- Motivation: A person is motivated when an action fulfills their needs.
- Leadership: Influencing the behavior of others. Leadership draws from five sources of power: reward, coercive, legitimate, referent, and expert power.
- Total Quality Management: A method involving all company members, focusing on quality, long-term success through customer satisfaction, and benefiting both members and society.